WORKING WITH AND LEADING PEOPLE

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

13-Oct-11 CENTRE OF EXECUTIVE EDUCATION Deep Dhanak

CONTENTS

CONTENT

PAGE NO

1. INTRODUCTION

2. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

3. EMPLOYMENT ISSUES

I. II. III. IV. V.

HIRING OF RELATIVES OF EMPLOYEES INTERNAL PROMOTION EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT HIRING PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PEOPLE HIRING FROM MINORITY

4. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON THE SELECTION PROCESS

5. PROCESS DIFFERENTIATION

6. CONCLUSION

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION
This report is based on understanding and evaluating various employment issues that a chairman of an organization faces and effectively delivers solutions to enhance productivity. The report will enlighten the readers about the steps and considerations a chairman would take in different situations with critical analysis and thoughtful reasoning. The nature of organization chosen is of retail nature, engaging in buying and selling of gold. The employee strength decided upon ranges between 20-22 workers for various tasks that are detailed in the hierarchy below and the location of the organization is set to be in the busy streets of Dubai. The organization chosen is a medium-sized enterprise with an annual turnover of over two million Dirhams. The organization is popularly known as Sparkling gold and is undergoing a few employment issues pending to decision-making. This report will detail out the knowledge the chairman of the company possess and how does he deal with a few employment issues given in the case-study.

ORGANIZATION CHART

CHAIRMAN

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT

FINANCE DEPARTMENT

HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT

MARKETING DEPARTMENT

WORKING OPERATIONS MANAGER

DESIGN MANAGER

MANUFACTURING HEAD

CASH INFLOW MANAGER

CREDIT MANAGER

HEAD OF RECRUITMENT

CUSTOMER SERVICE

OPERATIONS MANAGER

PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER

MARKETING EXECUTIVE

DESIGN INNOVATOR

RECOVERY DEPARTMENT

RESEARCH MANAGER

INFORMATION COLLECTOR

NEGOTIATION OFFICER

The hierarchy of the organization adopted is of a flat structure. A flat organization has a few or only one layer of management and is also popular as the horizontal structure. This also indicates a shorter chain of command from top to bottom and a wider span of control. A variety of advantages are experienced within the organization such as greater communication between employee and staff which proves to be reliable, effective and faster. A higher degree of involvement in the organization helps the employees to take quicker decisions which thereby increase positive customer interactions as they do not have to track down their managers for every customer query. The degree of supervision required for such a structure remains lower as compared to the other structure as competent and knowledgeable staff is hired at each level of the organization which also plays a great role in improving the profit margin and overall productivity.

RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

Recruitment is the process that helps an organization to build up a hierarchy in a systematic manner by selecting a pool of candidates for a position or various roles within an organization. Once the employees are recruited, the process goes further with the selection of the suitable candidates for employment to begin. (1) There are two types of recruitment known as internal and external recruitment. If recruitment is done within a company, it is known as internal recruitment. Transfers and promotions are a few examples of internal recruitment. However, to get a clear understanding for instance, if a staff member within an organization has been promoted to a higher position, it is known as internal recruitment as the candidate has been recruited from the company itself. If candidates are recruited from outside then the process is named as external recruitment. Some of the popular ways used by an organization for external recruitment are; outsourcing agencies, labor contractors, newspaper advertisements, employee

referrals etc. For instance, when a firm requires a candidate from external sources, it may detail out the job description and specification to a recruiting agency which would then undertake the responsibility of hiring suitable candidates for the organization. It is crucial to understand specific terms used in the process of recruitment such as job description and job specification, while the former refers to statements that describe the job, the latter refers to statements written upon the knowledge, skill, qualification, abilities and experience required for the role. For instance, while negotiating with customers and data-entry may fall under job description, two years of experience in telesales and typing speed of 30 wpm would be mentioned under job specifications. These tools of describing the job and specifying job requirements are undertake to improvise the recruitment process and enhance the effectiveness of selecting candidates.

The process of recruitment undergoes a several steps to ensure effectiveness in the process. However, there is no correct approach and the most effective is drawn from authors such as ACAS; Roberts, 1997; Taylor, 2005b. The process includes steps such as, Identifying the basic need, job analysis, case-making and gaining approval, preparing a job description, person specification, decision-making regarding selection methods, decision-making regarding

advertising and application methods, designing and placing advertisements, receiving applicants which is then followed by short listing candidates. Once the candidates are shortlisted, they are further introduced to interviews and tests after which the selection decision is taken. A major part of the process ends here after which acceptance and rejection letters are issued, references collected, contractual issues are sorted and an induction ceremony is conducted to familiarize the new employees. The process of selection is choosing a candidate from a number of candidates the most suitable for a specific position. The process consists of sorting out CVs received; short listing candidates, conducting interviews and different types of tests such as, aptitude tests, personality questionnaires and psychological tests. Once a suitable recruit passes the prior tests, he or she may receive the provisional offer. Although, the process seems extensive, it plays an important role in well-being of the organization as the human resource is ranked as the most prime resource within an organization. Without the existence of talented human resource, an organization cannot function to its fullest.

EMPLOYMENT ISSUES
An organization is a place where people co-exist and engage in activities of buying and selling goods. However, the organization chosen is of retail nature which mainly engages in selling of gold and customized products. A number of employment issues take place within an

organization, some of which can be hiring relatives of employees, giving equal rights and opportunities to the handicapped, hiring within the minority community and selecting from internal or external recruitment. A variety of other issues such as, legal, environmental, ethical, social, economically play a vital role in the proper functioning of an organization. Accurate contracts leave salaries, gratuity funds, insurance are some legal aspects that need to be taken care of by the employers. Employers play a vital role in creating a work-friendly environment for its employees to enjoy working and thrive in. an employer can set examples for its employees such as fair play, while paying commissions on sales or the calculation of leave salaries before a employee goes for a vacation. For instance, when an employee does not pay as promised; employee loose the interest in working for the organization and work ineffectively which is then followed by a new job search which is also followed by the fellow employees. This in turn, effects the organizations working conditions which worsens day by day. A new candidate recruited in such a workplace does not receive the right working conditions with continuous demotivation from subordinates and assistants due to the unfair policies adopted by the owners of the organizations.

HIRING OF RELATIVES OF EMPLOYEES

This is one of the oldest forms of employment issue faced by an organization. A various studies and authors depict different views on such a situation. While some studies indicate equal rights in employment opportunities, others prescribe a method of evaluating the candidates in such situations. The ethical resource Centre suggests that members of immediate family should be considered on the qualification acquired by the individual. He/she may not be employed if the family member creates a subordinate/ supervisor relationship amongst them. Similar decision, of not employing the immediate family member would be taken if they have the potential of creating an adverse impact on the work performance and creation of conflicts which may be one more reason to not let the employment take place. Tony beshara, on the other hand, argues that employing an employees relative may prove harmful for an organization as other employees and stakeholders may associate his/her success or failure to the mere presence/ absence of his relative working in the same organization. Therefore, he claims to be a no win situation for the three people associated in this situation the employer, employee and his family member. An article at Continental times suggests that hiring an employee within the family of a current employee may not be a bad deal, if a candidate is tested against some benchmarks or basic agreement created between the employer and employee. This process includes briefing out the job profile to the candidate. This will ensure that the candidate and employer communicate a set expectation from the position available and an immediate decision can be taken regarding going further or stopping with the process. The next step involves, getting a job application filled out by the candidate, thereby, not entertaining favoritism. This will also ensure that the employee matches the job qualification and prevents a wrong decision.

The chairman of Sparkling Gold was approached by the IT manager of the organization to recommend his sisters son for a vacancy within the organization in his department. The relationship is clearly shown out in the smart graphics used below:-

CHAIRMAN

IT MANAGER (Vacany) IT ASSISTANT

The chairman then evaluated the options available which range between, internal recruitment and external recruitment. Forms of internal recruitment include promotions, demotions, job rotation, transfers, retired employees, dependents and relatives of deceased and retrenched employees. However, some of the external forms of recruitment include, press advertisement, educational institutes, employment exchange, labor contractors, unsolicited employess and recruitment at factory gate. Employee referrals are a form of external recruiting and the recruiter might still hold a strict criterion for selection. The vacancy mentioned in the above diagram, is a new position created by the IT manager considering the large area of work undertaken by him. Therefore, an internal recruitment is not possible in this situation with respect to the hierarchy displayed above and the recruiter has to opt out for external forms of recruitment. A new role designed by the management requires a job analysis which refers to the process of defining duties and skill requirements of a job and the qualities within a person to fulfill the same. The information generated through job analysis helps in recruitment and selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation, discovering unassigned duties and EEO compliance. Once this information generated from job analysis is used and verified, a job description and specifications are prepared and the process of recruitment and selection continues.

An experienced manager and CEO of the company would never employ an individual who does not match the job profile and would prove to be a liability to the company. Therefore, if the employee referral turns out to be incompatible for the job profile, he/ she will not be considered for the recruitment and selection process thereon. However, if the employee referral is one of the skimmed profiles by the recruiter, he or she will be called for a face-to-face interview and thoroughly tested by hypnotically creating situations. For instance, the interviewer may ask, how you would react in a situation where the IT manager has approved a specific design for a new range of jewelry and you think it would not appeal to the youth in the target market. A critical answering scheme should be prepared beforehand in approval of the IT manager and other superior to understand where the expectations lie in respect with the new role created. If the

employee referral manages to pass all the tests he/she may be appointed for the role assigned or kept on probation to see how the person manages his new role and responsibilities within the company. An employee referral is a critical issue, as the current employees performance may get affected by the decision of the employer. Therefore, it is mandatory to appreciate the efforts of the current employee and patiently listen and test his comments, suggestions, feedback and referrals to show a sense of justice practiced within the organization. If the employee referral is selected, the employer benefits by reduced or no costs of training, a relief from the accountability of the employee as his/ her relative may undergo the same pressure and correct him/her to save their reputations in the organization. The employer or manager is aware of the referral capabilities and can easily decide on the workload to be handled, a relative of the employee or employer itself may assure personal interest in the growth of the organization and may be readily available for longer working hours and extreme efforts. However, the employer also needs to be careful of misuse and misconduct of resources within the organization and ensure a professional atmosphere within the premises. Accordingly, I would definitely employ some of my close friends or relatives of my employees as the trust factor remains stable and if the trust is broken in terms of theft or cases of unethical methods used, the organization has the former employee to clear their bad debts from. Moreover, employing relatives of employees builds a sense of a belonging within the employees and they look forward to working with the organization as their own family business. This in turn, reduces the employee turnover rates and increases customer loyalty as they see same employees over years and years along with increased productivity.

INTERNAL PROMOTION
The process of promoting an employee within the organization upwards, sideways or demoting from a particular position is known are some ways of internally fulfilling the recruitment process within an organization. Internal promotion refers to the process of giving a current employee a higher designation than his current one with increased authority and responsibilities and usually accompanied by higher income. A recruiter or an employer is always faces a choice between promoting internal employees and recruiting new fresh talent from the market. This is a critical situation as the impact caused by both the options can be highly profitable or a complete lossmaking situation. The CEO of sparkling gold faces the same choice and decides to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of both the methods to reach to facilitate his decision-making regarding the recruitment process. One of the advantages derived from internal promotion is the reduced cost and need of training as the employee has worked under the offered position and thoroughly understands the work culture adopted within the organization, responsibilities of the new role and has an association with contacts used by the previous employee. Internal promotion also motivates the employees to give a quality performance as he/she is always keen on reaching to the topmost position within the hierarchy that would most likely offer higher reputation, salaries, incentives and a sense of achievement within the individual. Internal promotion also saves on the cost of recruitment from external sources and the investment made on placing an advert, skimming through resumes, calling candidates for interview and conducting various tests in order to select the right candidate. A heavy cost of non-productive time is eliminated as the person who is promoted is aware of the initial stages of the role and does not need much assistance or support to carry out his work freely. Recruitment conducted iinternally allows the recruiters to easily critic the job applicants because their former performance within the organisation in the respective roll and skills have already been evaluated by the business entity. Employee retention is one of the

biggest advantages an organization gets by promoting internally as the employees may feel the lack of scope and promotional chances if they see external recruitment on a high scale.

However some of the disadvantages include, limited skills and approaches contributed to the organisation as the employees have already demonstrated their skills and abilities to the organisational welfare, they may be saturated with ideas and recruiting fresh talent may become necessary in such a situation to boost productivity. Internally promoted employees are less capable of contributing new approaches, ideas, and skill as compared to externally hired people. The unending recruitment process can be tricky for the recruiter as when a person gets promoted to a higher designation, his/her place is vacant which compels the recruiter to engage in the recruitment process continuously. Internal promotions may lead to friction amongst employees who are promoted and those who are not promoted as it leads to a sense of disappointment for those who are not promoted. This will increase the ratio of unsatisfied employees over the satisfied employees who in turn will affect the work culture of the organisation and employees may feel that an equal chance is not given to all the employees which might also lead to high employee turnover rates along with low productivity.

For Instance, If the marketing manager of my organisation retires and the nest best person considered for his same post would be his assistant, it is the responsibility of the owner to give him a chance of promotion. If an external employee is recruited in such a case, the assistant may feel dampened scope of promotion and may feel demotivated to fulfil the job responsibilities which might also force him to leave the organisation. If the employee has been working for a long time with the organisation, his/her goodwill will get him the next best job, which most likely would be offered by the competitor but the organisation would lose a lot in terms of experience and expertise.

EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT
External recruitment is conducted through recruitment software that can be applicable in many situations especially when the job market has a large number of candidates. It facilitates an employer to obtain competitive advantage concerning other firms. Externally hired applicants contribute to the inspiration of rational thinking of their co-workers. Also existing employees of an organization will remain motivated knowing that they are facing a heavy completion with the new employees which will allow them to demonstrate enhanced creativity measures. One of the most crucial benefits is that outside recruitment and advertising may assist the business build its brand and boost its corporate sales. However, some of the disadvantages include the dampened morale of the existing workforce as they do not feel the opportunity of getting promotions. The rate of turnover for those externally hired is almost higher than the internal promotions since the external candidates must adjust to a new working environment. Externally hired people may tend to have a low loyalty as they must have shown the same traits in their previous organisation and may do the same with their future employees. In a nutshell, there are more risks associated with external recruitment as compared to internal recruitment which may also include, trust issues, employee seriousness towards the work culture, adaption issues, difference of business lines, high employee turnover and training expenses incurred by the organisation. As an employer I would opt for internal recruitment because I understand the importance of giving the responsibility to the right people at the higher level of the organisation. If the company is in the right leadership, minor faults at the lower level can be resolved in no time. However, if the organisation is given in the wrong hands at the higher level, it trickles down to the lower levels of the organisation and nothing in the organisation work well.

HIRING PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED PEOPLE

The concept of hiring a physically handicapped person for work is not new to the society as its practiced over several years. Employers failed to understand the benefits of employing a disable person as the prior mindset of having a smart and physically fit person had a huge impact on the decision-making process. This aspect can be evaluated from the economical point of view, the human side of the hiring equation point of view and from the legal side of arguments. The advantages of hiring the disabled exceed the disadvantages and therefore, prove to be a good choice for the employers. The economic impact on such a decision-making is huge as the employee turnover rates reduce drastically as shown by a study conducted on pizza hut in the United States. Results clearly showed that the retention of employees with disability was 22% higher than the normal employees which helped them save a lot of costs spent in terms of training, hiring expenses, advertising the role created and checking referrals. It also saves up the time in interviewing candidates and checking references. Decrease in productivity due to vacant positions in an organization is also diminished by hiring disabled people as they do not change their jobs quite often and also improves the employee morale as a strong and stable workforce indicates high customer satisfaction. Disable workers try hard or harder to fulfill their job responsibilities when compared to normal employees according to study conducted by Harris in the year 1987. Studies also revealed that 57% of the employees were as productive as employees without disabilities and 20% of the organizations reported that disable workers were far more productive. The pizza hut study also revealed that 1 in ten customers had a family member who was disable and so the act of hiring disable people improved the overall reputation of the organization through highlighted social responsibilities initiatives taken by the organization and enhanced customer loyalty.

The human side of the hiring equation point of view concentrates on the benefits of hiring the disabled and the extension of benefits to the organization, the disabled employees within the firm, coworkers of the disabled and the society as a whole. One of the most important stakeholders of the society remains the community in which it exists. Every community has a diversity of ages, ethnicity, wealth and the ability and disability of citizens. Businesses can use this diversity in improving customer loyalty, opening up their business to products or services required by the disabled and creating a sense of easy access as the business which are more accessible for employing disabled employees are more sensitive to fulfilling the needs of the disabled community as consumers. Studies reveal that when disabled workers form a part of the workforce, the employee morale within every individual increases, thereby, increasing the teamwork initiatives, employee satisfaction which also correlates to enhance product and service quality. Society benefits include, fewer people using government social programs, increased consumer spending and the inclusive society setup of hiring diverse individuals from the society is thoroughly acknowledged by the society and contributes in the strengthening of the organization and community as a whole. A number of countries have friendly employment benefits where the employer gets a lot of incentives and freedom of paying taxes by employing the disabled. One of which is the federal tax incentive where small businesses get relief from paying Business Tax Credits &

Deductions for Employing People with Disabilities. They are also eligible for getting a tax incentive to reduce the load of paying for the accommodation of the disabled. In Africa, businessmen who hire the black people residing in the local environment may automatically be eligible for various tax and incentive programs.

HIRING FROM MINORITY

Minority is a group of people who face problems in todays life when they meet their social life and migrate in such a country where there is racism, discrimination, caste, religion and etc. There are some countries who do not allow blacks to work in an organization, some they dont allow womens to work, and some do not accept bisexual people. Country like Saudi Arabia, Middle East, basically Muslim countries, the government had passed the law that womens shouldnt work anywhere which creates feminism. This is because according to them it is against their culture, religion, and it affects their norms. But in some cases they do allow that also under few circumstances that is womens have to cover their body and face. Similarly, in India students who belonged to low caste or low profile background were rarely accepted in schools or universities as there were a limited percentage of seats available for backward class. Basically, minority groups are treated different, and if they want to exist in todays environment they need to have good reputation. It is clearly visible that minority groups are also differentiated in regards to power where dominant groups or majority groups have more control over their lives. The minority groups could advantage an organization in many ways such as; personality, potential aspect, background, and experience. If a candidate belongs to minority group they might have the personality of thinking, talking, and decision making, and so on. He/she might also have the potential such as; gender, age, ethnicity and many other characteristic. These qualities can help an organization in many ways. For example, if a female candidate joins an organization she can help in many ways like, dealing with customers of opposite sex or same. As stated before about the rules and regulations of Middle East countries, if there are female promoters they can interact with female customers so that they feel comfortable.Hiring minority subordinates can also be effective due to their attitude and behavior. This can be possible as their social factors are under their control so this way they gain more life experience and therefore it polishes their attitude. For example, if a German candidate wants to join a tourism company in Dubai, he/she has chance to work because he/she might have experience and not only that, even their geographic location also matters.

Some of the disadvantages associated with minority hiring are that they might not be educated to a certain level which might not suit the job profile and in turn result in low productivity, efficiency and effectiveness. Hiring too many people from the minority community may harm or lower the corporate image of the organization as it will portray low financial and social image to the potential consumers. A number of people belonging to the minority section may make it an uncurtail environment for the local people or higher castes working in the same premises as the working style of both the castes may clash with each other therefore, contributing to the loss of work culture and cordial working conditions.

For example, an organization that allows a number of people from the minority group to join the organization may not be able to attract the elite class to work in the same premises as they would feel the organization to have a low self-esteem and may look elsewhere for corporate environments. This is also similar to getting admissions in universities in India where they reserve a special quota for the minor castes and a university which a higher quota for the backward castes is unable to attract the elite class which may then turn to universities that demand higher donations, fees and where only the children of the elite class can be educated. People consider working with the minor castes as a mark on their social status and their working life as nobody wants to associate themselves with such people. The society fails to understand that we have made the rules and myths which are now considered as the major drawback in the progress of the society as a whole. As an employer, I would give an equal chance of employment to all the applicants as the only criteria my business would follow is qualification and experience. If a person belonging to the group of minority applies for a vacancy and matches the job profile, he or she will definitely be hired irrespective of the religion or caste he belongs to. The employment equity act practiced in Canada aims at removing barriers to employment and accommodates a more flexible work environment for all the employees belonging to the disabled group, aboriginal people, women or people of the backward classes.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON THE SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is followed by the process of recruitment where the recruiter has collected the basic information required to understand the job profile and the skills and attributes required in the person to fulfill the responsibilities. The selection process consists of steps involved with collecting application forms, conducting interviews, checking references, conducting preemployment tests and evaluating the potential employee for a trial period. The first step is collecting application forms which can be in written or electronic form, it is basically the resume of the employee who is interested in working with the organization and his past experiences with other organizations. The recruiter deeply investigates the qualities mentioned on the resume and matches them with the job profile vacant and considerably selects suitable candidates for the role. This is necessary as it eliminates the hassle of personally interviewing the candidate without having a basic knowledge of his skills and experiences. The second step is conducting interviews which allow the interviewer to assess the general outlook of the potential employee and picturize him in the desired role. The interviewer can randomly question him about his experience and clear out a check list in order to test his genuineness and presence of mind. The interviewer may also ask the respondent to list his or her duties in order of importance and frequency of occurrence. This step saves the employer from the potential risk of being deployed by the new employee as he or she gets a chance to understand the employee before the employment term starts. The third step is to check references which is also an important task as to be sure if the respondent was telling the truth and understand his/ her character from their past employees and anything of importance other than that. This also gives a chance to the employer to review and verify the data collected at the time of the interview. The fourth step involves, conducting pre-employment tests such as aptitude tests which brings out the best qualities embedded within an employee, physiological tests which may be done to understand the decision-making process of an employee or his priorities and general mentality. Other tests may include, skill tests which measures the individuals capability of performing a

certain task for instance, word processing ability and drug tests which is not very common but a sophisticated word used for it is the medical tests which allows the employer to be assured of a physically fit employee. It is a useful step in the selection process as it terminates the risk of employee withdrawal, increased employee turnover rates and other associated problems. Once the potential employee passes all these tests, he or she may be called for a trail period and a performance analysis sheet is set to understand who amongst the pool of selected candidates the best one to be employed is. This step allows the employer to have a short experience of how the employee may be when he would start working on the employment contract. This is a benefit for the employer as he observes the employee performance and quickly makes decision on the working standards he/she delivers in the organization. The selection process, if followed thoroughly minimizes the chances of employing a wrong candidate and creates a sense of satisfaction within the existing employees about the fair methods used for selecting new candidates.

PROCESS DIFFERENTIATION

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--recruitment-selection--349.php http://www.learnmanagement2.com/flat%20structure.htm http://www.the-business-plan.com/flat-organization-structure.html
http://www.ethics.org/page/erc-employee-policies http://www.myn10.com/articles/tony-beshara/hiring-friends-relatives-previous-employees

http://continentalproservices.com/continentaltimes/2010/02/16/3-keys-hiring-relatives/ http://www.das.psu.edu/dairy-alliance/pdf/employee-recruitment-selection.pdf
http://EzineArticles.com/6554106

http://recruitment.naukrihub.com/sources-of-recruitment.html http://ezinearticles.com/?Internal-Recruitment---Advantages-And-DisadvantagesExplained&id=1663907

http://ezinearticles.com/?Internal-Recruitment-Pros-and-Cons&id=6554106 http://ezinearticles.com/?External-Vs-Internal-Recruitment&id=6535667 http://www.ehow.com/info_7743509_advantages-external-recruitment.html 1. http://www.sasknetwork.ca/html/Employers/hr/Module2-Recruitment.pdf